Tom Cruise Film Has an Interesting Link To Jason Statham’s Classic ‘Transporter’ Franchise Due To a Blink-and-Miss Cameo From the English Actor

Tom Cruise, one of the biggest stars in the business and one of the biggest movie stars, played his first lead role in the 1983 film Risky Business. He went on to establish himself as an action star and is known for pulling off crazy stunts.

Collateral, a 2004 neo-noir action film with a script by Stuart Beattie and directed and produced by Michael Mann, featured the actor. Cruise portrayed Vincent, a hitman on a murderous rampage. The actor Jason Statham, who is renowned for playing action heroes in movies, has a unique connection to the movie.

Tom Cruise and Jason Statham in Collateral

Jason Statham’s cameo in Tom Cruise’s Collateral raised eyebrows

Tom Cruise, who played a hitman in 2004’s Collateral, is seen walking in a crowd at the airport during the opening scene of the movie, and actor Jason Statham, who appeared in The Transporter and played the character of methodical Frank Martin, was shown to be walking somewhere nearby.

Statham’s job in The Transporter was to complete shady deliveries for questionable individuals with three adamant rules, including never changing the deal, no names or any indication of who was involved, and never opening the packages. Fans who had watched The Transporter before Collateral pointed out that the two characters bumped into each other and exchanged a knowing look before parting ways, hinting at the connection between the two movies.

Tom Cruise

Fans noted that maybe Statham’s Frank was at the airport in the opening scene of Collateral delivering another package. However, some fans noted that maybe the two movies did not have any connection at all.

The connection between Tom Cruise’s Collateral and Jason Statham’s The Transporter remains a mystery

According to ScreenRant, ardent fans and some reviewers and movie critics who watched the movies very closely pointed out that Jason Statham’s cameo in Collateral, which is often considered to be Frank Martin from The Transporter, couldn’t have been that for various reasons.

The first reason is that he only delivers the packages by vehicle and avoids making any sort of contact with them. The second reason is that Statham’s The Transporter took place in Nice, France and he would have to be relocated to Miami at the beginning of The Transporter 2 which came out a year later than Collateral, which was based in LA.

Tom Cruise’s movie Collateral featured Jason Statham

The last reason for the character not being related is the fact that Statham was credited as Airport Man, which they noted could make the connection between the two movies even less.  But at the same time, some argued that maybe the delivery needed Frank to travel from France to LA along with pointing out how similar vibes the characters had. Plus the look they shared.

Do Collateral and The Transporter take place in the same universe?

There have been various theories about the two movies belonging to the same universe. Collateral’s screenwriter, Stuart Beattie, appeared on the Collateral Confessions podcast and, according to Collider, he said,

“I asked Jason about that… Yeah, absolutely. Yes, it’s canon. Same world… the studio will never admit to that, but in my head, absolutely it’s him.”

In an interview with IGN in 2005, The Transporter’s helmer Louis Letterier said that Frank Martin did appear in 2004’s Collateral.

Tom Cruise and Jason Statham

The director was asked about the future of the franchise and he hinted that Frank Martin would just be a cameo in other people’s movies; in Michael Mann’s movies, which hinted at his appearance in Collateral. However, there has been no official confirmation about the two movies being from the same universe except for having Jason Statham as a common connection.